Ipsa Tripathy
Bhubaneswar: At 3:45 in the morning, while most of Kandhamal is still asleep, Srimati Mailik is already preparing for work. During the mahua season, she joins thousands of tribal women across Odisha who enter the forest before sunrise to collect flowers that have fallen overnight. A few weeks later, many of the same families turn to kendu leaves, gathering them by hand and tying them into small bundles for sale.
For these households, the forest is more than a source of food, fuel and traditional knowledge. It provides an income that helps pay for groceries, education, healthcare and other essential expenses. Kendu leaves, used in making bidis, and mahua flowers, which have several traditional and commercial uses, are among the most important forest products supporting rural livelihoods in Odisha.
But the income from these products is becoming increasingly uncertain. Collectors face low procurement prices, limited access to markets and difficulties obtaining the benefits intended for them. Rising temperatures and unpredictable weather are adding another layer of pressure, affecting both the availability of forest produce and the conditions under which people collect it.
The dependence on forest produce is particularly significant among Odisha’s tribal communities. According to Y. Giri Rao, executive director of the forest rights organisation Vasundhara, around 40 per cent of the state’s tribal population depends on minor forest produce for its livelihood. Scheduled Tribes account for approximately 22.85 per cent of Odisha’s population, making forest-based employment an important part of the state’s rural economy.
Kendu leaf collection is one of the largest organised sources of seasonal income. Unlike many other forest products, kendu leaves are traded through a state-controlled procurement system. Registered pluckers sell their leaves to government agencies, which determine procurement rates and administer welfare benefits.
The number of people involved is substantial. In 2020, Odisha announced bonus payments for approximately 7.89 lakh registered kendu leaf pluckers. By 2024, the government said around nine lakh pluckers, binders and temporary workers would benefit from welfare measures associated with the trade.
Mahua supports another large network of collectors and traders. Odisha is among India’s major mahua-producing states, with annual flower collection estimated at 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes. In some forest-dependent households, mahua can contribute nearly one-third of annual income. Its importance extends beyond trade, as the tree also holds cultural and traditional value for many tribal communities.
The two products, however, operate under very different market arrangements. Kendu leaf collection is closely regulated by the government, while mahua collectors often depend on private traders and local intermediaries to sell their produce.
In July 2026, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi approved a ₹74.78 crore welfare package for kendu leaf workers. The package included an increase of 10 paise per kerry, a bundle of 20 leaves, and 20 paise per phal, a bundle of 40 leaves, in the relevant processing areas. It also provided a 25 per cent bonus for pluckers and a 5 per cent incentive for binders and seasonal workers.
Although the package increased procurement rates, the bonus for pluckers was lower than the amount announced two years earlier. In 2024, the previous government had raised the bonus to 50 per cent and increased the price of a 20-leaf bundle from ₹1.40 to ₹1.60.
For the workers, these changes translate into relatively small amounts of money. Each bundle requires leaves to be collected individually, often in difficult summer conditions. Even a modest increase in the procurement rate matters when earnings depend on the number of acceptable bundles gathered during a limited season.
Collectors have also raised concerns about how welfare measures are implemented. In Bolangir, kendu leaf workers alleged unequal distribution of bonuses and complained that the department had stopped providing protective items such as umbrellas and slippers. Such provisions may appear minor, but they are important for people who spend hours walking through forests and working under intense heat.
Mahua collectors face a different set of difficulties. Because mahua flowers are also used to produce traditional alcoholic beverages, their storage, possession and trade are regulated under Odisha’s excise laws. These restrictions complicate the procurement of mahua through government-supported marketing arrangements.
Although a minimum support price has been announced for mahua, collectors have struggled to benefit from it. The Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation has not been able to procure mahua flowers through its usual arrangements because of the regulatory restrictions. As a result, many families continue to depend on private traders, even when the prices offered are lower than the official support price.
In Kalahandi, where the stated minimum support price is ₹25 per kilogram, collectors have reportedly sold mahua for less because they needed immediate cash or had no alternative buyers. In Bargarh’s Padmapur block, which is estimated to produce around one lakh quintals of mahua annually, traders from neighbouring Chhattisgarh have been reported to visit villages during the collection season and negotiate prices directly with residents.
The absence of dependable buyers can be just as damaging as low prices. In Mardigocha village of Kandhamal, women reportedly stored 21 quintals of dried mahua flowers in sacks for four months because they could not find a buyer. For households relying on seasonal forest income, such delays can affect their ability to meet everyday expenses.
The situation reveals an imbalance in the trade. Mahua supports commercial activities that generate revenue beyond the village, yet the people who collect the flowers often have little control over the price they receive. Without adequate storage facilities, organised procurement or stronger bargaining power, collectors remain vulnerable to the terms offered by intermediaries.
Climate and weather conditions are making these economic difficulties more severe. Forest produce depends on seasonal patterns of temperature, rainfall and flowering. Changes in those conditions can affect the quantity and quality of what collectors are able to gather.
Heat is one of the most immediate problems. In 2023, Odisha experienced repeated heatwave conditions, with at least 16 heatwave days reported by June 21. For people collecting forest produce, high temperatures can shorten the hours available for work.
Snehalata Masanta, a forest produce collector from Sambalpur, described having to return from the forest before 10 am because of the heat. Her work includes collecting kendu leaves, sal seeds, mahua and tamarind. When temperatures become uncomfortable or unsafe early in the day, collectors have fewer hours to gather produce and may return home with smaller quantities.
In Kandhamal, kendu leaf workers also reported reduced collection during the unusually hot conditions of 2023. Procurement in the district fell from 5.65 crore bundles in 2022 to 5.26 crore in 2023. The decline does not establish heat as the only cause, since collection can also be influenced by rainfall, leaf quality and procurement conditions. Nevertheless, it illustrates the pressure that unfavourable weather can place on seasonal earnings.
Unseasonal rainfall creates another difficulty. Kendu leaves are purchased according to established standards of size and quality. Rain during the collection and drying period can damage the leaves or make them unsuitable for procurement, reducing the amount collectors can sell.
Weather conditions can also affect the insects encountered by forest workers. During the unusual rainfall of April and May 2023, collectors in parts of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal reported large numbers of small black flies. Some workers began covering their faces with mosquito nets while collecting leaves. Such conditions make an already demanding occupation more difficult.
Mahua collection is similarly sensitive to weather. The flowers normally fall from the trees during a relatively short seasonal period. Collectors depend on this natural process because flowers gathered from the ground can be dried and sold.
In Paikmal, in Bargarh district, collectors reported a season in which unusual weather, including hot days and cold nights, disrupted the normal fall of mahua flowers. Some residents tried to dislodge the flowers using sticks, but the resulting damage reduced their market value. Traders anticipating a poor harvest reportedly began offering advances to villagers, potentially increasing their dependence on buyers before the collection season was complete.
Such experiences raise concerns about how changing weather patterns may affect forest-based livelihoods. A single unusual season cannot be attributed entirely to climate change, but rising temperatures and shifts in rainfall can influence flowering, leaf development and the conditions in which forest produce is collected. For families with limited savings, even a short disruption can have serious financial consequences.
Forest fires are another concern. In some areas, people traditionally burn dry leaf litter beneath mahua trees to make fallen flowers easier to collect. When the forest floor is unusually dry, such fires can spread beyond the intended area and damage surrounding vegetation. High temperatures, dry conditions and wind can increase the danger.
The relationship between forest fires and climate change is complex, since human activity remains an important cause of ignition. However, hotter and drier conditions can increase the likelihood that a small fire will spread. Protecting forest livelihoods therefore also requires safer collection practices and better local fire prevention.
The challenges facing kendu leaf and mahua collectors are not beyond the reach of policy. Forest rights organisations and workers’ groups have called for stronger procurement systems, fairer prices and greater opportunities for local processing.
For mahua, an important step would be ensuring that the minimum support price can actually be accessed by collectors. This requires addressing the regulatory difficulties that prevent organised procurement and creating dependable channels through which families can sell their produce. Better storage, drying facilities and local processing could also reduce their dependence on traders who offer low prices during the collection season.
Self-help groups and cooperatives could play a larger role in producing and marketing mahua-based products, including food products, seed oil and other permitted value-added goods. Where traditional alcoholic products are involved, any commercial activity would need to comply with applicable excise laws. The larger objective is to allow communities to retain a greater share of the value generated from the resources they collect.
For kendu leaf workers, the priorities include procurement rates that reflect rising living costs, timely and transparent bonus payments, and basic protective facilities during the summer collection season. Access to drinking water, shaded resting places and appropriate working hours would become increasingly important as temperatures rise.
These measures also need to recognise the role of women. Much of the work involved in collecting, drying, sorting and selling forest produce is carried out by women, yet their contribution is not always reflected in decisions about procurement, pricing and livelihood support. Greater participation by women collectors in cooperatives and local forest management institutions could help ensure that policies respond to their actual needs.
Odisha’s discussions on climate adaptation often focus on cyclones, floods, coastal protection and large infrastructure projects. These are important concerns, but climate pressure is also being felt through smaller changes in everyday work. A hotter morning can mean fewer kendu leaves collected. Unexpected rain can damage a season’s produce. A delayed mahua flowering period can leave a family without the income it expected.
For communities that depend on forests, adaptation must therefore include both environmental protection and economic security. Better information about seasonal weather, safer working conditions, reliable procurement and stronger local markets can help households cope with uncertainty.
Kendu leaves and mahua flowers may appear modest beside Odisha’s larger industries, but they support a significant part of the rural economy. The people who collect them perform difficult seasonal work and depend on the health of the forests around them.
The future of this economy will depend on whether Odisha can protect those forests while ensuring that the communities who rely on them receive a fair return. For a kendu leaf plucker or a woman collecting mahua before sunrise, climate resilience is not an abstract policy goal. It means being able to work safely, sell what the forest provides and earn enough to support a family even when the seasons become less predictable.